


Love in the Time of Dragons

by fand0m_trash



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Assassins & Hitmen, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, M/M, Princes & Princesses, So much angst, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-10 15:21:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7850248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fand0m_trash/pseuds/fand0m_trash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dan Howell is the most dangerously feared assassin and swiftest thief in the kingdom. He silently kills in the night under the name, Dark Silence. Taken in as a young boy by a man named Vexx Grimsbane, he grew up at the secret Grimsbane Institute where he learned to fight and kill with precision. He quickly rose to the top and became the institute’s most skilled assassin. Over time Dan became hesitant to kill & Vexx began to force him to by controlling him with magic. One day when he is assigned a mission to steal a precious magical jewel that's locked away in a dungeon of an old castle, Dan plans to take the jewel for himself and use this as an excuse to run away. Upon entering the dungeon, Dan unexpectedly finds Phil Lester, the prince of the kingdom who was kidnapped 10 years ago and locked in the dungeon by an evil sorceress. Dan helps get Phil out of the castle and learns that the only way he was able to enter the dungeon was by breaking a spell put on the door that could only be broken by Phil's soulmate. Even though Dan is skeptical of the idea of soulmates, Phil bets Dan that they will fall in love before the five day journey to return Phil home comes to an end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Journey to a New Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there pals ! 
> 
> So this is my first official fanfic that I've actually sat down, put all my thought into and wrote without giving up. I've had this idea for a while and I hope I can do it justice.
> 
> The title comes from an episode of the television show "Merlin"
> 
> Please enjoy !

No matter how many people he’s murdered, Dan will never get used to the feeling of another human beings’ blood dripping off his sword onto his skin. He’s lost count of the amount of blood he’s spilled but the feeling of it will never be something that’s familiar to him. There is an endless list of things that he will never get used to and the blood isn’t even the worst of them. It’s not the sound of ribs breaking as he plunges his sword in someone’s heart, it’s not the screams that he muffles with his hand, ultimately erasing their entire existence in the silence of the night, and it’s not even the look of absolute fear on his victim’s faces when they realize they will never see their loved ones again. The absolute worst of it all, is the fact that he is the cause of it and he has ultimately no control over it.

He watches his own limbs slit the throats of men of and women of every age and he can’t stop it. He screams at the top of lungs in hopes that someone will hear him and put an end to the horror, but of course no screams ever come out. He claws from inside his own body at the monster that he is trapped inside and cries as the precious life of a child quickly slips through his fingertips. He feels the magic pulsing through him, making every ounce of free will and self-control he has crumble and disintegrate before his eyes.

When it’s over, he feels the glow of the magic inside him slowly dissipate and he falls to the ground next to the bodies he just mutilated. Dan lasts only about a minute before he’s running over to the nearest bush and expelling all the contents of his stomach. Hot tears stream down his face as he realizes he yet again managed to fail at fighting for control over his own body. He’s still not strong enough to put an end to the magical hold that his once father figure has over him.

Dan gathers up all the energy he can muster to stand up and walk over to the family he just murdered. The tears flow once again as he looks at their blood stained clothes and skin, the same blood his sword his currently drenched in. He picks up his sword and wipes it on his black cloak.

He looks around for anywhere he can put the bodies so that they can rest peacefully, or at least as peacefully as you can after having been brutally murdered by a monster who can’t control his own body. He sees a little clearing deeper in the forest, with a patch of beautiful white flowers.

He drags the bodies over to the clearing and lays them down next to each other in the flowers. It’s not long before the beauty of the white flowers melts away as the blood turns them a dark pink color. He kneels down and places his hand on the child’s forehead and in a quiet whisper says, “I’m so sorry.” He puts his sword back in its sheath and pulls the hood of dark cloak over his head before he quietly escapes into the darkness of the night.

************************************

By the time he returns to the Grimsbane Institute, the sun has begun to shine and the darkness of night has escaped, bringing the lives of that family with it. The sight of the Institute makes him want to puke all over again. This is his where he grew up, where he trained and it is ultimately supposed to be his home.

It’s where he learned what the fastest way to kill someone is, what the right way to stab someone is, and how to snap someone’s neck as if it were a twig. It’s where Vexx Grimsbane, the man who runs the Institute and the man took him him after his parents were killed, vowed to teach him how to fight back so he would never be defenseless again. It’s also the place where that same man uses his supernatural abilities to force Dan to murder against his will, even though multiple times Dan has got down on his knees and begged him to stop.

It has become a prison for Dan; a place where his consent is non-existent and his body is controlled by someone who only cares about his skills and nothing else. This place is the farthest thing from home it could possibly be, but it’s the only thing he knows and he’s got nowhere else to go.

********************************

After Dan returns to his chambers to change out of his bloodstained clothes, he walks over to the Institute's main conference room, where Vexx is waiting for Dan to report on how the mission went. This is part of a the daily routine Dan has to undergo being the Institute's head assassin.

He usually wakes up in the early hours of the morning and awaits orders from Vexx on what his next moves are. The orders are simple: locate the target, wait till night time and then take them out. Dan has been doing this for almost every day of his life since he turned 18 and was then old enough to go out and use his acquired skills to carry out the missions of the Institute.

The missions vary each day. Sometimes a king from some obscure kingdom will pay for someone that he prefers not to be around anymore to disappear and other times it’s random townspeople who just want to someone else to end their feuds for them. It’s not necessarily justified but at least there’s something about the mission that can let Dan sleep at night. But mostly, it’s murder for Vexx’s own personal agenda.

Vexx is a man that you never want to cross paths with. He’s a tall man, just over six feet and only a few inches shorter than Dan. He’s insanely muscular with a scruffy dark beard, making up for the lack of hair on his head. He’s got dark brown eyes which look like tiny black holes that threaten to swallow you up every time you even look his way.

He’s got a wicked smile to match his wicked personality and worst of all, he has magic that he will not hesitate to use to put you in the worst pain possible. Magic is forbidden in almost all kingdoms but that doesn’t stop Vexx from freely using magic for his own purposes, one of those purposes being controlling Dan.

It started back when Dan was a young 18 year old and Vexx sent him on a mission to kill a woman who stabbed the man who murdered her husband. It was revenge and nothing more but that man happened to be one of Vexx’s greatest allies and Vexx was not happy. When Vexx got the news that his ally was dead, that’s when he had his servant notify Dan to come to the conference room.

“Sir, you wanted to see me?” Dan asked politely as he entered the room and waited for Vexx to notice him

“Ah yes, hello Daniel. I have your mission for today.” Vexx said, as he looked up from his breakfast. “I need you to take out a woman named Mary Sanders, who is a barmaid at a local tavern. She murdered one of my greatest allies and she needs to pay for it. I will not suffer because some bitch is upset her useless husband is dead.”

“You want me to kill someone who killed her husband's murderer?” Dan asked, genuinely confused at the order. He had only been on on a handful of missions and those were all vicious criminals who deserved it but a woman who just wanted revenge for her husband? It made no sense.

“I don’t want you to, I’m ordering you to. I’ll have your horse prepared and you can leave in about an hour.” Vexx said, ignoring the meaning behind Dan’s confusion.

“But, sir, I don’t understand. I thought we kill bad guys? Why would I kill a woman who is probably just mourning her husband?” Dan asked. Vexx gave him a look that made Dan know he fucked up. That was the look Vexx gave his enemies before he snapped his fingers and their hearts stopped.  

“Are you questioning me, boy?” Vexx asked as he walked right up to Dan, crowding him until Dan backed up and he felt his back hit the wall. “You don’t get to question me. You shut the fuck up and do exactly as I say, that’s all you get to do.”

Dan knew he should have just obeyed and killed the woman, he was an assassin after all but killing a poor woman who probably just acted out because she’s still dealing with her husband's death was something Dan couldn’t do. If he ever met the man who killed his parents, they would be dead in no time.

But Dan still couldn’t be that cold, heartless assassin Vexx tried so hard to make him. He still had a heart and in his heart he knew this woman didn’t deserve to die. So, Dan pushed Vexx with all his strength and said, “No, Vexx. I won’t do that.”

That resulted in a slap in face followed by a strong punch in the gut from Vexx. Dan crumbled to the ground in pain and Vexx bent down to his level not long after.

“I don’t think you heard me, boy. You do as I say and you NEVER tell me no. If you won’t do what I say, I’ll just have to make you do it whether you like it or not.” Vexx said, spitting on Dan before he reached his hand out and placed it on Dan’s forehead, whispering a foreign language Dan didn’t understand.

That was the last thing Dan remembered before he somehow ended up at the tavern Mary Sanders worked in, and looked down at Mary’s bloody corpse. Dan screamed and tears instantly started flowing out of his eyes. Vexx had used to his magic to force Dan to kill Mary. Dan never felt more sick to his stomach in his life and that wasn’t the last time he felt like that.

Dan continued to refuse to murder the people Vexx ordered him to kill when it was unjustified and Vexx used his magic every damn time to make Dan do exactly what he begged him not to. Dan couldn’t just murder these people who didn’t deserve it. Dan went from Vexx’s favorite student to his most hated. But, he was still the most skilled so Vexx used him anyway.

After a while, Dan stopped refusing and just killed the people Vexx told him to regardless of whether they deserved it or not. He learned to distance himself from his work and over five years he became completely void of emotion. He became the cold killer he hoped he would never become and the people of the kingdom of Morid began to notice him. A man in a black cloak and mask, who murdered as quickly and quietly as the night; they even gave him a name, Dark Silence. The entire kingdom feared him and for good reason, too.

Everything was going great in Vexx’s eyes; Dan murdered without question and got the job done, without any inconvenience. Until today, when Dan finally broke down after all these years and begged him not to make him kill the family Vexx ordered him to.

It was a test and nothing else and Dan knew it too. Vexx would order unjustified murders specifically just to test Dan and see if he really wouldn’t question him anymore. He just couldn’t do it anymore; the bodies started piling up and the wall Dan put up between his conscience and his work finally started to crumble.

Vexx laughed when Dan broke down crying in front of him and said, “I knew you wouldn’t last.” Then, the magic manipulative powers came into play once again and Dan murdered the family just like Vexx wanted.

The events of the night flashed through Dan’s head as he approached the door to the conference room. Dan couldn’t believe that after all these years of trying so hard to not give a shit, he finally cracked. The moment that first tear started rolling down his face in front of Vexx, he hated himself. He was a cold, heartless assassin now, he wasn’t supposed to care about the people he murdered anymore. He was supposed to get the job done, all while being emotionally numb but deep down Dan knew that really wasn’t him.

As he walked up to the door, the guards moved to give him access and Dan slowly walked in. Vexx heard the door open and when he turned around and saw that it was Dan, the smug look that Vexx gave him made Dan want beat the shit out of him.

“Daniel, you’ve returned. I trust the mission went smoothly?” Vexx asked. Dan held back the bile that was rising in his throat from how casual Vexx sounded about a mission that included killing an innocent family just to break Dan down.

“Yes, of course it did. That’s what happens when all consent is thrown out the window and you force me to murder against my own will.” Dan said, not even caring how much he was going to pay for talking back to him like that.

“Well, maybe I wouldn’t have to force you if you just shut up and did your fucking job like everyone else in this Institute.” Vexx said, “No other student is as difficult as you are. They do what I say without question, just the way it should be.”

“Yeah, well I guess I’m just special.”

“You’re soft.” Vexx snapped, “You always have been. Even when I thought I’d finally got you to shut up, you pull a stunt like last night and prove me wrong yet again.”

Dan looked down and bit his lip. He didn’t come in here to hear the same lecture he’s heard a thousand times before, he came to give his report and that was all. If he stayed in here any longer, Vexx was sure to end up with a bloody nose.

“I gave you my report,” Dan said, deciding to ignore Vexx’s previous statement, “I’m leaving, now.”

“Not so fast,” Vexx said, grabbing Dan’s arm to stop him from walking away, “I have another mission for you, a very important one. It’s not murder this time so you don’t need to bitch about it.”

The Grimsbane Institute’s missions were not always murder, surprisingly. Along with being the most skilled assassin, Dan was also the best thief the Institute had to offer. Dan would be sent to steal precious stones, jewelry, coins, you name it and Dan's snatched it up. Stealing was like a breath of fresh air considering most of his days were spent spilling blood all over the kingdom.  

Dan followed Vexx over to the long wooden table in the room and sat in the chair across from him. Vexx sat down and laid out a map of the Cavalon, which was marked up in handwriting Dan couldn’t read.

“Are you aware of a woman named Ruby Thornheart?” Vexx asked.

“No, but she doesn’t sound friendly,” Dan replied.

“She most definitely isn’t. She’s a sorceress and an ally of mine, but from what my men tell me, she’s gone rogue. She plans to take over her kingdom, by stealing magic from every magical being she can find.” Vexx said.

“You can steal other people’s magic? I didn’t know that was possible.” Dan asked, genuinely surprised.

“Yes, apparently you can but not even the most powerful sorcerer can do that by themselves. There’s a magical jewel, called the Dragon’s Eye that can give any sorcerer the power to control and take away the magic of another sorcerer.” Vexx explained. “The whereabouts of this jewel have been very hush hush but we have acquired some information. The jewel is hidden deep in a dungeon of an abandoned castle in Cavalon. Many men have scoured every inch of the castle to find the jewel and those who weren’t killed by the creatures guarding the castle, have failed to find it. That’s where you come in.”

“Are you telling me you want not only want me to go on a dangerous journey to get to the castle, but once I get there I could die? And even if I don’t die, there is no guarantee the jewel is actually there?’ Dan asked, incredulously.

“Precisely,” Vexx said, smirking.

Dan couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Vexx had sent him on many missions in the past, some to steal, most to murder, but none of them have ever been a mission that would put Dan’s life in danger. Was this punishment for breaking down again?

Cavalon was a three day journey by horse, and even longer by foot. It was the most noble of the three kingdoms in the land and was owned by the Lester Family. The king, Elliott Lester, was one of the most ruthless rulers he had ever seen. He lost his wife and firstborn son in a magical raid many years ago, leaving him withouthout a queen and making him the only parent to the young Prince Phillip.

On Prince Phillip’s 19th birthday, an evil sorceress kidnapped him and the kingdom never heard from him again. The knights searched for years but Prince Philip was never found. King Elliott finally had enough and banned magic from Cavalon. He had lost his entire family and he became cold and heartless, and honestly Dan could relate. But, along with magic King Elliott banned a large number of things like adoption, homosexuality and sexual deviance of any kind; if he couldn’t have love and happiness, then no one could.

Needless to say it was a kingdom Dan had absolutely no interest in ever visiting. Not to mention Dan was in no mood to make such a long journey but as Dan was about to tell Vexx to shove it, he got an idea.

What if this journey was the only chance Dan had to run away from Vexx and the Institute? He could steal the jewel for himself, sell it to buy food and shelter and live far away from the hell Dan was currently trapped him.

“Okay, then. I’ll do it.” Dan said, trying to sound calm even though he was internally freaking out. Was he really going to finally run away? Could he actually get away with it? The thrill of it send shivers up dan’s spine and he tried not to show it in his face.

Vexx looked surprised at Dan’s cooperation and showed Dan the best way to get to Cavalon. Vexx notified his servants to prepare Dan’s horse and Dan took the map and went to his chambers to pack for the journey.

_I’m gonna do it._ Dan thought. _I’m actually going to do it._

As Dan packed his belongings, he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that soon he would actually be free. It was then that a thought crossed his mind. If he actually stole the jewel and ran away, Vexx would no doubt send his men after him and Dan would be dead in no time.

Dan shook his head to shake that thought off. Even if that happened, a life on the run was a million times better than the life he was currently living. After Dan finished packing, he headed outside toward his horse to begin not only his journey to Cavalon, but to his new life.


	2. Key to My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey to Cavalon begins and Dan meets a lot of interesting people along the way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! I just wanted to say I got a lot of really nice comments about chapter one so thank you for that! I apologize if this chapter is a little crappy in comparison to the first one. It's a bit slow moving but if you keep reading till the end there's lot's of action and we meet someone very special. Better quality chapters are on their way I promise! Please enjoy and comment with your thoughts! :)

Optimism has never been one of Dan’s strong suits. He was never the one to look on the bright side of things and his humor was always dark and self deprecating. But when Dan really thinks about it, there was never really anything in his life to be optimistic about. Until now, when the hope of a new life awaited him, so Dan decided to try and be as optimistic as possible about this trip.

But, of course, because the universe truly hates Dan, rain started to downpour from the sky. He had been riding almost all day and everything was going great but as the daylight slowly started to dissipate, the rain started, leaving Dan and his horse drenched. Dan’s clothes were soaked and it made Dan feel extremely uncomfortable. 

Dan didn’t have his iconic Dark Silence black cloak and mask on, no this trip was solely going to be made by Dan Howell. This journey was ultimately to celebrate the death of Dark Silence and the rebirth of Dan. After he sells the jewel and runs as far away from Morid as possible, Dan is never going to end another person’s life. He’s going to buy a little hut, find someone who truly loves him and live, as they say, “happily ever after.”

_ Happily ever after? Really, Dan?  _ Dan thinks to himself  _ There’s no such thing as happily ever after for people like you _

Love is a strange thing. Dan’s never experienced it before and is almost convinced it doesn’t actually exist. But, then again, Dan never thought he would actually have the guts to run away so he doesn’t know what to believe anymore. 

Dan’s always wondered that if he did ever fall in love,what would it feel like? Who would it be with? Who would possibly want to be with an assassin who is too weak to control his own body? No, if he did find love he would have to hide that part of his life from them. He needs to hide that part of him from everyone. No one would ever move past that and truly get to know him; not even the God himself could forgive Dan for what he’s done. 

Eventually, Dan has completely given up on trying to ride in the rain and decides to come to a stop when he notices a tavern at the bottom of the hill he’s currently standing on. Dry shelter and alcohol definitely sounds like something Dan needs right now.  When Dan gets closer, he notices that it’s a very tiny tavern with an even tinier inn attached to it, called The Rising Sun. 

Dan ties the reigns of his horse, Totoro, to a pole near right next to the tavern and quickly runs inside. The inside of the tavern is very cozy looking, with various wooden tables, each containing a candle in the center, and pots, pans, and doodads of every kind hanging from the ceiling.  

Dan walks up to the bar and is greeted by a smiling young man, with dark eyes and shaggy brown hair. 

“Hey mate! How are you on this fine day?” he asks, still smiling at Dan as if they’ve been the best of friends for years. 

“You are aware it’s basically monsooning outside, right?” Dan asks

“Yeah well a little rain never hurt anybody!” the smiling boy says, excitedly. 

_ Who the heck is this guy?  _ Dan thinks  _ How could someone smile that much without permanently injuring themselves? _

“The name’s Chris,” the boy says, putting his hand out for Dan to shake, “Who are you?” 

Dan knows Chris meant it as a simple question to learn his name but Dan help but can’t actually think about the question in a deeper sense. Who was he? 

_ An assassin who's killed more people than you could even imagine,  _ Dan thinks but he settles for a handshake and simply says, “Dan”

“Well, Dan it’s nice to meet you. Now what can I get you?” Chris asks excitedly

“Give me your strongest drink. I have a lot of things on my mind.” Dan says, honestly.

“One strongest drink we have coming up!” Chris says, before he disappears behind the bar, gathering a bottle of some brown liquid and pours it into a glass.

As he waits for Chris to return he looks around the tavern and see’s so many different types of people. He sees people who definitely look like they could puke if they drink anymore, there’s an adorable barmaid with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes that Dan finds out is named Louise, and a man and woman disgustingly sucking on each other’s faces in the corner. 

Dan’s missed seeing other people. He usually spends his days either at the Institute training or stalking victims in the night. He never really gets the chance to be around other people, he doesn’t even have any friends. 

When Dan looks back over to the bar, it’s not Chris who returns with his drink but another young man, with curly brown hair and beautiful eyes.  _ What is with this tavern’s workers being so damn attractive?  _ Dan thinks to himself

“Sorry, friend.” the cute, curly haired boy says, “Chris spilled your drink all over himself cause he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. But, I was kind enough to pour you another. Sorry for the wait, I’m PJ.” 

Dan shakes the hand PJ holds out towards him.  _ Wow these tavern people are friendly _

“It’s no problem at all. Nice to meet you, I’m Dan.” 

“Well hello, Dan. What brings you to the Rising Sun?” PJ asks.

“Well, PJ, I’m on a journey to find myself, but this damn rain is kind of making it hard to do anything. I’m also on an actual journey as well but the weather hates me.” Dan says, shifting in his wet clothes.

“That’s very unfortunate, Dan. I’m sorry to break it you but the rain doesn’t seem to be stopping any time soon. You shoulid check into our Inn for the night and just pick up your metaphorical and actual journey in the morning.” PJ said, looking sympathetic.

Dan knew that he really should stop for the night but the sooner he got to Cavalon, the sooner he would be free. But, riding in the dark and the rain was not an option so  staying in the Inn for the night was Dan’s best bet at the moment. 

“You’re probably right. Mind showing me to a room?” Dan asks

“Wow, Dan I didn’t know you were that kind of guy? At least buy him a drink first” Dan hears Chris say as he walks up to PJ and rests his arm on PJ, smirking at Dan. Dan couldn’t help but laugh at the joke as he watched PJ slap Chris.

“Ignore him, he’s just jealous. Come on, I’ll show you to a room.” PJ says, leading Dan to a door in the back of the tavern which leads to the Inn. PJ guides him down a hallway with lots of doors and finally show’s Dan which one is his. 

“Have a good night, Dan. If you’re gone in the morning I hope you find what you’re looking for.” PJ says, smiling.

_ So do I,  _ Dan thinks to himself.

Dan then strips himself of his clothes and tucks himself into bed, hoping sleep will prepare him for the journey ahead.

**********************************

Dan forces himself out of bed in the early hours morning, wanting to get in a full day's ride. He only has about two days left of the journey and he wants to make the most of it. He rides on Totoro through the forest, which Vexx said was the fastest way to get to Cavalon. 

Dan wishes he had someone with him to talk to because he is incredibly bored right now. He really wishes he had a companion in all this. Someone to make stupid jokes with as they ride through what seems like an endless forest, someone to fight along his side if he runs into any shifty people who are talented with a sword, and someone to sleep next to when he sets up camp at night. But right now, all Dan has is himself and his horse.

Dan rides through the forest for what feels like hours, and most likely is hours. Dan feels himself falling asleep and when he jerks to wake up he almost falls off Totoro. Dan eyes flutter as he falls in and out of consciousness when all of a sudden he see the sun poking through a clearing and that’s when Dan sees it, the end of the forest. Dan’s never been happier to see the edge of a forest in his life because this means he’s one step closer to Cavalon. 

As he rides closer to the edge, he sees that it leads to a long path that goes down a hill. Dan follows the path and reaches what looks like… another forest.

_ Are you actually kidding me?  _ Dan thinks to himself. Dan decides it’s time for a break, both him and Totoro need to rest. He sees a creek and fills up his water skin for himself as Totoro drinks from the creek as well. 

Dan suddenly looks up when he hears rustling in the bushes. He looks around but there is no one there. Maybe it was just his imagination. The rustling starts up again and that’s when Dan unsheathes his sword, holding it out defensively incase anyone jumps out and attacks.

He turns around when he hears quick footsteps and that’s when a group of bandits runs out and begins to attack him. 

There are four of them and Dan is not hesitant to fight every one of them. He blocks a blow from in front and behind him. He manages to knock out two of the bandits with the hilt of his sword, also giving them a bloody nose.

He whirls around to fight the other two but he didn’t realize how big they were until he actually looked at them. They were bulky, muscular, and taller than Dan and considering Dan is 6’3” that definitely intimidates him. He blocks blows from both sides of him and these men are no match for Dan, at least that’s what Dan thought.

These men were much bigger than the other two and Dan realized knocking them out was not an option. The only way Dan would get out of this was if he killed them and Dan just couldn’t do it.This was supposed to be his new life, free of murder and blood, he couldn’t throw that all away on the second day by killing a couple of bandits.

This thinking hindered Dan’s movements and the bandits took advantage of this. One grabbed onto the Dan’s arm as the other was much less subtle and wrapped his hands around Dan’s throat. They pushed him up against the nearest tree and the one held their sword up to his neck. 

“What’s a scrawny little thing like you doing in a dangerous forest like this?” the taller and uglier of the two growled right in Dan’s face. 

“None of your fucking business.” Dan spit out as he pushed against them, but failed and they slammed him back into the tree, pushing the sword closer to Dan’s throat. 

“What do you say, Hector? Should we kill him and then steal his belongings? Or steal his belongings and then kill him?” the other man asked, with a wicked smile. 

Dan struggled against the two men, kicking and pushing with every ounce of strength he had but ultimately it was no use. Dan’s skillset included killing with precision not pushing two huge goons off him so needless to say he was screwed. 

“I think we should just kill hi-” Hector didn’t even have a chance to finish his sentence before out of nowhere, an arrow struck right through his back. This caused him to topple over, making the other bandit back away from Dan. 

That’s when a very attractive young man and woman came charging into the forest. The man was handsome with short, sandy colored hair and he was holding a sword and the woman was beautiful with long, brown hair and she was holding a crossbow. The man ran up to the bandit and stabbed him in the gut with his sword as the woman watched with pride. The bandit fell to the ground and Dan looked up from the bandit at the man and woman in shock.

“Are you okay, man?” the man asked casually.

“Yeah, sweetie are you alright?” the woman asked with concern in her voice, running up to Dan and checking him for injuries. 

Dan pushed her hands away and said, ‘Yes, I’m fine. Thanks to you. Who are you people?” 

“I’m Marzia and this is my fiance, Felix.” she said, pointing towards the man. 

“Nice to meet you. I’m Dan” he said, shaking both their hands. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, what were you doing all by yourself in the forest? Don’t you know this forest is infested with thieves and murders of all kind?” Marzia asked. Dan was about to comment that he was in fact both of those things, but he decided against it.

“Well I know now.” Dan said sarcastically, “Then what are you doing in the forest if it’s so bad?” 

“We didn’t want to walk through here but this is one of the fastest ways to Cavalon. Marzia and I want to get married in one of their churches.” Felix said.

“Their churches are beautiful, even if their King is the farthest thing from beautiful.” Marzia added. Hearing this made Dan perk up instantly. What are the chances the people who saved him were going to the same place he was? 

“Did you say, Cavalon?” Dan asked, a little too excitedly.

“Yes,” they both answered, scarily synchronized. 

“I can’t believe this. That’s why I’m here too! I’m on my way to Cavalon, as well.” Dan said, enthusiastically. 

Felix and Marzia both looked at each other and smiled.

“Well, it looks like you’ve got company, now.” Felix said.

****************************************

After about two hours of riding together, the three of them decided to set up camp for the night when they noticed it was getting dark out. The sat around the fire Dan started and they talked almost the whole night.

Dan learned a lot about Felix and Marzia that night. He learned they have been together seven years.They grew up in different kingdoms but met each one day in a forest just like this one. Felix was being attacked by bandits and Marzia came to the rescue and saved him, just like they did for Dan. Felix was grateful and very impressed by Marzia and they decided that they should stick together and fight by each other’s side so that’s what they did. Now, they travel all over the land, fighting off bad guys together all while being grossly in love. Just like Marzia said, they plan to get married in a church in Cavalon that Marzia visited as a young girl and has wanted to get married in ever since. 

They are two of the nicest and most down to earth people Dan has ever met. As he listens to them talk and watches them hold hands and kiss each other on the cheek occasionally, Dan can’t help but smile. They have a type of love between them that is infectious and it’s hard not to be happy around them. Even though it does make Dan a little sad because he wants that for himself one day. 

************************************

The rest of the journey to Cavalon is filled with lots of laughter and smiles between the three of them. Dan has become close with them over these two days and considers them his friends. He’s never had friends before and it fills his heart with a warmth he can’t even begin to explain. They walk up the path they’ve been traveling on and stop when it separates into two. One path goes in the direction to the church Felix and Marzia are heading towards and the other goes in the direction of the abandoned castle Dan needs to find. 

“I think this is where we part ways.” Dan says, sadly. He just made these amazing friends and he hates that he has to say goodbye to them already.

“I think so.” Felix says, just as sadly. “It sure was nice meeting you, Dan” Dan goes to shake Felix’s hand but Felix holds his hand out in a fist, indicting to Dan that he should “bump it”. 

He goes to shake Marzia’s hand but she is having none of that and pulls Dan in for a hug. The hug feels amazing to say the least; comforting physical contact was nothing he’s ever really experienced and feeling it from someone who actually cares about him makes Dan smile. 

“I hope we cross paths again one day, Dan. Stay safe.” she says with a smile. 

Dan waves to Felix and Marzia one more time before they head down the opposite paths. Dan looks at his map and realizes just how close to this abandoned castle he actually is. He just needs to follow this path and walk up a hill and then he’s there. Dan is so excited, yet nervous that he can actually hear how fast his heart is beating. 

******************************

It didn’t take long before Dan finally reached the abandoned castle. If Dan wasn’t looking for it specifically, he almost would have walked right past it. It was a tall castle, with walls that looked like they were about to collapse any second. The entirety of the castle was covered from bottom to top with green weeds and plants of every kind. It definitely didn’t look like the type of place that would be harbouring a precious, magical jewel. 

Dan hesitantly walks up to the door of the castle, then looks up and realized just how tall this castle actually is. He grabs the handle to open the door but stops when it doesn’t open. He grabs on with both hands this time and pulls with every bit of strength he has. He tries shaking the door back and forth but loses his grip and flies backward landing on his back.

_ Of course, with my luck, I would find the castle but fail to open the frickin door,  _ Dan thinks to himself. 

Dan stands up, dusting off his clothes and walks up to the door again, this time with fierceful determination. He shakes the handle back and forth one more time before backing up a little. He takes a deep breath and then musters up all the energy he has and kicks the door. The door goes flying backwards and Dan smiles to himself, and walks into the castle with a new batch of confidence. 

The inside of the castle looks even more broken down than the outside does. There are bits of broken wall scattered all over the floor, accompanied by pieces of broken glass and weeds. There’s cobwebs all over the place and Dan squeals as he accidentally walks into one; spiders are not his thing. He walks around the first floor, with his sword in hand, and slowly investigates the area. There seems to be nothing dangerous down here but he jumps and turns around when he hears a noise but sighs in relief when he sees it was only a rat. 

He notices a small inclining flight of stairs and hesitantly walks up them. When he gets to the second floor, what he sees is surprising to say the least. The second floor looks nothing like the first one. There’s no wild plants growing all over the place, no broken bricks or pieces of glass, just slightly dusty furniture. He could tell that back in the day this castle was probably beautiful. 

Dan continues his hesitant exploration as he walks down the hallway he is currently in. He walks by lots of rooms, some bedrooms, a kitchen, nothing worth stopping to look at. That is, until Dan sees a room with faded paint on the door which reads, “Armory.” Dan walks in and sees a beautiful collection of swords, maces, crossbows, and armor fit for a king. Dan notices a beautifully crafted sword and decides no one will notice if he takes it. He examines it and smiles at how pretty the sword actually is, but his smile drops when he hears a distant roaring. 

His heart starts beating quickly as he slowly walks towards the door of the Armory, both swords held out defensively. He peeks his head out and looks down both sides of the hallway but nothings there. He gives the hallway a once over one more time before he deems it safe enough to walk out. 

He goes to the right, where the long hallway turns and leads him down another long hallway, with an open doorway at the end of it. He starts walking towards the door when the roar returns, only this time it’s much louder. Dan’s heart is racing so fast that he can actually hear it. He begins to walk down the hallway but stops because this time the roaring is accompanied by extremely loud footsteps. 

The footsteps are coming closer and closer to him and he quickly runs into a bedroom to hide. There’s no door to the room so he settles for hiding under the bed. The footsteps are getting louder and louder by the second and whatever is making the noise, is definitely down the hallway. He hears the roar again, this time it’s extremely loud and is followed by a huge gust of fire that goes right past the door. 

_ Oh shit. It’s a dragon.  _

Dan knows that if he stays in this room and the dragon comes by, he will not hesitate to roast him alive. No, he needs to make a run for it. When the roaring stops, Dan slowly comes out from under the bed and cautiously walks towards the door. He peeks out and is both surprised and extremely relieved when he sees nothing. 

He quietly tiptoes down the long hallway towards the doorway, both swords in hand. He almost makes it but suddenly the dragon appears at the opposite end of the hallway behind him and Dan runs as fast as his legs can take him. He feels the heat of the fire the dragon is breathing out quickly coming up behind him and he makes it to the doorway just in time to get out of it’s way. He sees the doorway leads to a downward staircase and he runs down them. 

When he gets down there, he is surprised yet again. He expected to be to see the deteriorating first floor where he entered the castle but he is met with a short hallway that only has one door at the end of it. The walls and floor are both black and Dan realizes it’s a dungeon. Dan knows dungeons are usually used for one of two purposes: 1.) To hide something terrifying or 2.) To hide the body of someone you want to never see the light of day again. Either way both of those options sounded better than having a dragon set him on fire so he runs up to the door.

The door is a tall black door with a giant lock on it. Dan almost yelled in frustration at having to find a way to unlock another door but was shocked to find a key hanging on the door knob. He picked up the key and it glowed in his hand. Dan had no idea if the glowing of the key was a bad thing but Dan was pressed for time because he heard the dragon still roaring upstairs. He quickly opened the lock and ran into the room, shutting the door behind him. He fell back against the door and closed his eyes as he tried to catch his breath.

If Dan thought the castle kept surprising him before, than boy was he wrong because when Dan opened his eyes he was faced with the biggest surprise of all. Before him, was a tall young man, with extremely pale skin, hair that was blacker than this universe and eyes that were a beautiful blueish, greenish, yellowish color. He had beautifully defined cheekbones and jawline and he looked beyond shocked to see Dan.

“How did you get in here?” the boy, no man, practically shouted with wide eyes.

“I used the key hanging from the doorknob to open the lock.” Dan said slowly, confused as to why the young man looked so shocked.

“But that’s impossible!”

“Um, not really. You just pick up the key, put it in the lock and turn it.” Dan said sarcastically, but generally confused by this man’s lack of knowledge of how keys and locks work. 

“You really just opened the lock to get in here? Nothing else?” the young man asked in a serious tone.

Dan opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he heard the roar of the dragon again. 

“Listen, I really don’t have time to discuss with you how locks work. I need to find a jewel and I need to get out of here without that dragon killing me.” Dan said , about to run towards the door. 

“A jewel? Do you mean the Dragon’s Eye? The magical jewel?” the dark haired stranger asked.

Dan’s head never turned so fast. He looked back at the stranger and walked right up to him, getting in his face. 

“You know about the Dragon’s Eye? Do you know where it is?” Dan asked, urgently.

“Of course, I do! It’s right in this very room.” the man said, smiling.

“It is?” Dan said, in almost complete shock, “Can you please give it to me? Some very bad people are after it.”

“How do I know you’re not a bad guy?” the man said, crossing his arms in an almost child like manner.

“Trust me, I’m not the bad guy.” Dan said, giving the stranger a stern look. 

The ebony haired stranger looked at Dan for a few seconds, as if to judge if Dan was telling the truth or not. Then, he walked over to a chest next to the bed. Dan just noticed the room he was in was actually a bedroom. He opened the chest and pulled out a small box. As he walked back over to Dan, he handed Dan the box but stopped when the dragons roaring continued.

“I need to get out of here.” Dan said, taking the box, “Thank you for the jewel.”

“Wait!” the young man screamed, “Take me with you. I can’t stay here any longer.” 

The stranger looked so scared and sad. He had on a dirty, bright colored shirt and dark pants. Dan also just noticed the man had little specks of dirt on his face and his hair was extremely messy.  _ Does this guy live down here?  _

Dan opened his mouth to speak but realized they had no more time to talk as the roaring got louder and louder. 

“Okay, then. Run quickly.” Dan said, as he handed the box back to the stranger, grabbed his hand and led them back up the stairs. 

Dan cautiously looked down the hall and saw the dragon all the way on the opposite side. If they ran quick enough, they could run past the dragon, down the other hallway and down the stairs to the entrance. 

“What’s your name?” Dan whispered to the stranger.

“Phil.” he said, smiling.

“Nice to meet you, Phil. I’m Dan.” Dan said, shaking Phil’s hand, “I”m gonna need you to trust me, Phil. Can you do that?” 

Phil nodded slowly and grabbed Dan’s hand tighter. Dan nodded and then ran as fast a he possibly could, pulling Phil with him. They zoomed past the dragon but failed to do it discreetly. The dragon noticed and Dan heard the monster’s large wings flap violently, creating a gust of wind as it flew over them and landed right behind them, blocking the staircase. 

They turned around and saw the giant, green, scaly monster staring them down, breathing heavily. They froze in their tracks and Dan started to internally panic.

_ How the hell am I going to get us out of this? _

Dan looked over at Phil, who looked terrified and was visibly shaking. Over Phil’s shoulder, he noticed that they were right next to the Armory and that’s when Dan suddenly got an idea. If Dan remembers correctly, in the Armory among the battle armor, was a few shields. If they could get the shields to block the fire attacks, maybe they could get close enough so Dan could stab the creature. Dan dared to try it out. 

“Phil,” Dan whispered, slowly letting go of Phil’s hand, “Quickly run into that room, get a shield and stay in there until I yell for you.” He gestured toward the door right next to Phil. 

“What about you?” Phil whispered back.

“I’ll be okay just do it.” Dan said. 

As Phil dove into the doorway right next to them, Dan dove under a table to his right, just in time to deflect a gust of fire from the dragon. Dan removed his sword from his belt and held it in one hand as he held the sword from the Armory in his other hand. He looked at the door of the Armory and saw Phil holding the shield. 

“PHIL! NOW” Dan screamed.

Phil ran out of the Armory, holding the shield to deflect another fire attack and dove under the table where Dan was. 

“You stay here. I’m gonna go and try to kill that thing.” Dan said.

“What? No! You can’t do that, Dan! It’ll kill you!” Phil said, practically shouting.

“We have no other choice, Phil! Take this sword. If I don’t make it, use it to protect yourself.” Dan said, as he grabbed his sword and shield, and slowly got out from under the table. 

He held up the shield and blocked the fire coming towards him, ignoring Phil’s screams of concern. The dragon was clearly fed up with him and settled for roaring instead of just roasting him. He took a deep breath, raised his sword and ran towards the dragon. He managed to stab him, but only in the side and it did nothing. The dragon used its tail to knock Dan out from under his feet, causing him to drop his sword. He was at complete mercy of the dragon and knew he was going to lose this battle.

Dan couldn’t believe he made the journey, found the castle, and got the jewel only to be killed by a dragon before he could even step outside. If Vexx saw him now, he would be laughing his ass off. Dan couldn’t just let it end like this. 

As Dan tried to build up the strength to get up, he stopped when he heard the dragon scream. It was a piercing scream that made his eardrums ring and Dan had no idea what the cause of it was. That was, until the dragon collapsed on the ground and Dan suddenly saw Phil, holding the sword. Phil had stabbed the dragon and saved Dan’s life. He looked up from the dragon at Phil in shock and Phil looked just as shocked as he was. 

“Phil… That was amazing.” Dan said, trying to catch his breath.

“I have no idea how I did that but thank you!” Phil said, smiling.

Dan suggested that they should probably get out of there when they saw the dragon twitch and they ran as quickly as possible down the stairs and out the entrance. They ran away from the castle and only stopped when they started to run out of breath. They both hunched over, hands on their knees, panting. 

“Thanks for saving my life.” Dan said after he finally was able to breathe.

“I should be thanking you for the same thing!” Phil said. “If it wasn’t for you I would still be trapped down in that dungeon!”

“Trapped? How long were you down there?” Dan asked.

“I lost track of the time but somewhere around ten years.” Phil said, solemnly. 

_ Holy shit.  _ Dan thought to himself. 

“Ten years? That’s insane! Who trapped you down there?” Dan asked, incredulously.

“An evil sorceress kidnapped me from my home on my 19th birthday. She took me here and locked me down in that dungeon.”

_ Wait,  _ Dan thought,  _ Phil? Evil sorceress? Kidnapped on 19th birthday?  _ That’s when it dawned on him.

“Oh. my. God.” Dan said, “You’re Prince Phillip.” 

“I haven’t been a prince in many years but yep! That’s me!” Phil said, excitedly. 

Dan couldn’t believe it. He had just found the lost prince of Cavalon. Even crazier, the lost prince is the one who had the Dragon’s Eye and the one who just saved his life. Who would've thought that Prince Philip of Cavalon himself was locked away in the dungeon of an abandoned castle. Then, a thought just dawned on him. 

“Wait, have any other people ever come into the castle before?” Dan asked, walking up to Phil.

“Oh, yes. Plenty of them. I’ve heard the screams of many men being burned alive by that dragon. Some of them have even made it down to the outside of my bedroom door like you did. But, they couldn’t get the door open and the dragon ended up getting to them before they could run away.” Phil explained.

“How on earth could someone not be able to open your door? The key is right on the doorknob. I got in there no problem.” Dan asked confused.

“That’s what I don’t understand either! You see, the evil sorceress put a spell on the door to stop anyone from entering.” Phil said.

“A spell? But I didn’t break any spell. I simply opened the lock on the door. I mean the key glowed in my hand when I picked it up but-”

“They key glowed?” Phil interrupted.

“Yes. It glowed blue. Why? What does that mean?” Dan said, slowly and a bit frightened.

“That spell could only be broken by one person and one person only… my soulmate.” Phil said.

The look Dan gave Phil after hearing that was a look between shock, disbelief, and extreme confusion.

“What?” was the only thing Dan could say. 

Phil walked closer to Dan, smiling. He placed the box with the Dragon Eye on the ground and then grabbed Dan’s hand. The look Phil gave him was something he had never seen before. He was smiling at Dan like he was something Phil had been looking for his whole life.

“Dan, don’t you understand.” Phil said, laughing slightly, “The key glowed in your hand because you have the key to my heart! You’re my soulmate, Dan!”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, the name of the tavern is another thing I stole from Merlin, okay... stop judging me.
> 
> Chapter 3 will come soon I promise !


	3. Unstoppable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan is skeptical that soulmates exist but Phil is confident they will fall in love. Laughs and tears are shared between the two boys and lots of interesting truths come out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S HERE !!! CHAPTER 3 !!!  
> I've gotten so many amazing comments from you guys and I'm so glad you are enjoying this fic!! I worked hella hard to make this chapter good for y'all so I hope you enjoy it :))

“Let me get this straight,” Dan said, pacing back and forth in front of Phil, who was sitting on a log, “You think I’m your… soulmate?”

Phil looked up Dan, slightly annoyed because Dan had already asked the same question about five times. Phil stood up, walked over to Dan, and grabbed his shoulders, turning Dan around so he was facing him.

“I don’t think you’re my soulmate, Dan! I _know_ you are!” Phil said, smiling at Dan. “You wouldn’t have been able to open the lock if you weren’t!”

“But that’s impossible!” Dan said, pushing Phil’s hands off him as he walked away to continue his pacing.

“Why is it impossible?” Phil said, sounding offended.

“Because soulmates aren’t a thing! They only exist in fairy tales.” Dan said.

“That’s not true!” Phil exclaimed, “The key glowed in your hand, remember? How else would you have been able to break the spell if you weren’t my soulmate?”

Dan opened his mouth to protest but closed it when he realized he had no solid argument. Dan genuinely had no idea how he would've broken the spell any other way but soulmates? There’s no such thing. Soulmates are just another lie people tell themselves to help them get through all the shitty things in life. The idea of a perfect person for you, someone who was made for you specifically is a great thing to dream about but sometimes you just have to face reality.

“I don’t know.” Dan finally settled on saying, as he sat down on the log, “I just don’t know.” Dan rested his chin in his hands, trying to think about what the hell was going on. Phil walked over, sat down next to Dan, and placed his hand on Dan’s knee.

“Why is it so hard for you to believe that we’re soulmates, Dan?” Phil said, softly and a bit sadly.

Dan looked at Phil and the look on his face resembled a sad puppy. This guy genuinely believed that they were soulmates. Poor Phil was trapped in a dungeon for almost half his life, and when someone finally saved him, the person who was supposed to be his soulmate, was a sad excuse for a human like Dan. If Phil knew Dan’s past, he wouldn’t be so persistent about the whole soulmate thing.

“Because in a world with so much evil, I just don’t believe something as great as soulmates could exist. It’s just too good to be true.” Dan said, looking away from Phil at the ground.

“But that’s the whole point of soulmates, Dan. To have someone who loves you so much and makes you so happy, that all that evil in the world doesn’t even matter.” Phil said. Dan looked up at Phil and couldn’t help but smile a little. That was one of the sweetest things he’s ever heard.

 _Oh Phil, you’re so precious,_ Dan thought to himself, before smiling sadly.

“You seem like a great guy, Phil. You deserve to be soulmates with someone way better than me. I’m useless.” Dan said, looking away.

Phil frowned and scooted closer to Dan. He gently grabbed Dan’s chin and turned his face until Dan was looking right at him.

“Don’t _ever_ talk about yourself that way. I don’t know you, personally, but I would love to. I bet you’re amazing and you just don’t know it!” Phil said, smiling.

Dan tried not to smile like an idiot, but failed and looked away. He really hoped Phil didn’t notice that he was blushing.

“I’m sorry, Phil. It’s just going to take a little more than that to make me believe soulmates actually exist.” Dan said, “I mean, do you expect us just to fall in love instantly?”

“Of course not!” Phil said, “Even love between soulmates takes a little bit of time!”

Dan sighed and stood up. _This guy is impossible_ , he thought to himself. As he walked over to where the Dragon’s Eye box was, he noticed his bag was lying on the ground, a little ways down the path. He walked over and noticed that Totoro was nowhere to be seen.

“SHIT.” Dan screamed, picking up his bag. “My horse ran away. How the hell am I supposed to return you home now?”

“You were going to take me back home?” Phil said, suddenly standing up, looking surprised.

“Of course I was.” Dan said, “I couldn’t just leave you here, looking all sad and lost like a wounded animal. But now, my horse is gone and we’re going to have to walk.”

“This is perfect!” Phil said, running up to Dan, “We have time to get to know each other better, now!”

“Phil, it’s a five day journey by foot, you’re going to be exhausted.” Dan said, slightly annoyed.

“Who cares?” Phil said, “You know what? This is great! I bet that we will fall in love by the time we get to my castle.”

Dan looked at Phil, with an amused look. Phil really was not giving up on this whole soulmate thing. Dan couldn’t just leave Phil to get lost or killed, so he really had no option but to take Phil home. But a five day trip by foot? Dan didn’t know how long he could take this whole true love nonsense for.

“Okay, Phil. Whatever you say.” Dan said as he put the box in his bag, “Let’s get going. I don’t want to make this trip any longer than it needs to be.”

Phil did a little jump and quickly walked to follow Dan.

“Hey, Dan. Do you want to hear a fun fact about horses?” Phil said, “Horses use their eyes, ears and nostrils to express their mood! How cool is that?

Dan gave Phil a blank stare as Phil flared his nostrils at him. All Dan could do was sigh and keep walking down the path.

_This is going to be a long trip_

*********************************

After about two hours of walking together, Dan could say, with absolute certainty, that Phil was the strangest person he had ever met.

Phil stopped to pet every tiny living creature they walked by. He even stopped to pet a squirrel, despite Dan’s protests, which ended up attacking him. He tripped more times than Dan could count, shared way too many nonsense facts about animals, and somehow managed to stay positive, despite how long they’ve been walking. Dan tried to be annoyed by it all but to be honest, having someone by his side made Dan’s heart feel a bit lighter.

They walked from the abandoned castle and started to walk through the forest where he met Felix and Marzia. According to the map, in order to get Phil home they needed to walk back through this forest, back through the endless forest near The Rising Sun, and through a long string of villages outside the main city area of Cavalon. They were currently in the countryside of Cavalon but Phil’s castle was the big attraction of the main city area. Dan was focusing so intently on the map that he didn’t even notice Phil was talking to him.

“Dan? Did you hear me?” Phil asked.

“What? No, I’m sorry. What did you say?” Dan said, snapping out of focus.

“I said my legs hurt! Can we please take a break? I haven’t done exercise of any kind in the past ten years! I feel like my legs are gonna fall off!” Phil whined, rubbing his legs as he made a little frowny face.

“Yeah, my legs hurt as well but this a really dangerous forest to stop in.” Dan said, “We’ll rest for a little bit but don’t wander off, okay?”

“Yes!” Phil said, excitedly.

They sat down near an area with a patch of flowers and a bunch of small boulders. Dan settled for sitting on the ground and Phil sat on the rock right in front of him. After about a few minutes of silence, Phil finally spoke up.

“Dan?”

“Yes, Phil?” Dan asked, as he looked around the forest for any sign of danger.

“I was thinking… maybe we should start doing little things that people in love do, so we can kind of give our future feelings for each other a little push!” Phil explained.

This made Dan’s head turn quickly to look back at Phil. “What?” Dan asked, giving Phil a “what the hell are you on about?” look.

“Well love between two people doesn’t just happen on it’s own, right? It takes effort! Sometimes you need to do little gestures to make the love blossom!”

“For a person who spent half his life in a dungeon, you sure know a lot about love.” Dan said in amusement, “Where do you even come up with these things? You must’ve read a lot of fiction books in your free time.”

“All I had was free time! There was nothing else to do but read! But that’s not the point!” Phil said, frustrated, “When I was 18, my father and I visited a village outside the city that was experiencing a bad harvest season. When my father was discussing how to help the people, I wandered off and met a lovely elderly couple. The woman told me that at first, she had no feelings for the man at all but he was persistent! He would randomly visit her with flowers, leave cute notes for her on her door, and one time even set up a picnic outside her house where they sat and talked for hours. They had to work for their love and they were still madly in love many years later! So, maybe, we should do stuff like that!”

“You want me to buy you flowers?” Dan asked, sarcastically.

“No!” Phil said, laughing as he hit Dan in the arm, “But something sweet and romantic! Let’s start with something small! I don’t even know anything about you so why don’t you tell me about yourself! We can’t fall in love properly if I don’t know anything about you!”

Dan internally panicked. _What the hell am I gonna tell him?_ How do you tell a person that you were a raised a killer, who was forced to murder people with magic, and is the most well known assassin in the land? Phil was probably the purest, sweetest and most innocent person he’s ever met and he would be terrified of Dan’s past.

“Well, my parents died when I was very young. I was adopted by a… bad man not long after that.” Dan said, choosing his words carefully.

“A bad man?” Phil asked, curiously.

“Yes… he took me in and taught me how to fight so I wouldn’t be defenseless like I was the day my parents were killed.” Dan said, solemnly as the memories of that terrible day came flooding into his mind.

He remembers is it like it was yesterday. He was going for a walk, with his mother and father through the woods. Dan’s mother loved the outdoors and would always make him go outside, despite Dan’s lack of interest of nature. But, despite all that, it was a great day. He was laughing with his parents when all of a sudden a man came running out of the trees, holding a bag. A woman came running after him screaming, “Stop him!” The man clearly stole the woman’s bag and was running to try and get away.

Dan’s father ran after the thief to try and stop him. He got close and almost tackled the man to the ground but the thief stabbed him before he could do anything. Dan’s heart stopped as he heard his mother scream. She ran up to her husband but the thief didn’t want witnesses and killed her, too. Dan screamed but no sound came out. The thief didn’t even notice him and ran away, the woman chasing after him. Dan ran up to his parents, where they both layed bloody in the leaves. He screamed at the top of his lungs and cried more than he ever had in his tiny little life.

It was then that out of the shadows came Vexx Grimsbane. He walked up to Dan and Dan didn’t even notice until he bent down and put his hand on Dan’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, son.” Vexx said, “If you come with me I swear you can kill that man and terrible men like him one day, yourself.”

Young Dan had just lost his entire world and the thought of killing his parent’s murderer was something he needed. So, without a place to go he followed Vexx to the Institute and the rest is history. He still never found his parent’s murderer but he hopes that if he’s dead, he’s burning in Hell.

“Dan, are you okay?” Phil asked as he lightly touched Dan’s shoulder, snapping Dan out of his thoughts.

“What? Oh, yeah, thanks.” Dan said, sheepishly

“Why was he a bad man?’ Phil asked.

“Because.. He made me do.. Very bad things.” Dan said, choosing his words carefully. “He used his magic to make me do things against my will.”

“Oh, Dan.” Phil said, sympathetically, as he got up to envelope Dan in a hug. Dan wanted to push Phil off and say something sarcastic but there was something about the way Phil’s arms felt around him that made any sort of argument just disappear. This hug was so much different than Marzia’s hug; this hug felt warm and safe. The only word Dan could use to describe how it felt was home. Phil felt like home and considering Dan had only just met him this morning should worry him but it didn’t seem to matter. The feeling was just too much and Dan ended up gripping tighter onto Phil and didn’t care if the tears started rolling.

“You have no idea how bad it is, Phil.” Dan said, crying. “I hurt so many people and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. I was the one who hurt people not him. I’m such a horrible person.”

Phil didn’t break the hug but he abruptly looked up at Dan. He grabbed Dan’s shoulders tightly to get Dan’s full attention.

“It was not your fault, Dan. You are the victim in all this.” Phil said, “I won’t sit here and listen to you say those things about yourself!"

“If you really knew the things I did you would hate me, Phil.” Dan stuttered, too out of breath from how hard he was crying.

“I could never hate you, Dan. You’re my soulmate, remember?” Phil said, as he gently cupped Dan’s cheek and looked at Dan with so much fondness Dan thought his heart would to burst. Dan didn’t even have the energy to argue about the whole soulmate thing he just buried his face in the space between Phil’s shoulder and neck, and cried his heart out. He had kept so much of this inside that letting it out felt like a huge weight off his chest.

They sat like that for a while, Phil just holding Dan as he cried into Phil’s shirt, until Dan finally broke the silence.

“Sorry for soaking your shirt.” Dan said, laughing sadly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Phil said, looking down at his shirt, “It looks better like this!”

Dan laughed and sat up to adjust himself on the ground, feeling a bit self conscious about how close Phil was sitting to him. He tried to lessen the awkwardness by breaking eye contact to take one quick look around the forest again and then looked back at Phil, who smiling at him.

“What?” Dan asked, feeling like he was missing something.

“Nothing… it’s just… I didn’t realize how pretty you were until I actually looked at you up close. Like, I knew you were pretty but it was different seeing your face up close” Phil said, looking embarrassed, “Your smile is really nice. I like how your one dimple is really evident when you genuinely smile.”

Dan smiled and looked away, trying not to show how hard he was blushing. He felt his face heating up and his heart doing a weird flippy over thing.

“How about you tell me more about yourself, Phil” Dan said, wiping his eyes. “I know your story before you were kidnapped but, if you don’t mind me asking, what was it like being trapped in that dungeon for so long?”

“Well,” Phil said as he bit his lip, looking as if he was deciding where to start, “When the sorceress kidnapped me from the castle, she knocked me out with magic and when I woke up, I was in my room in the dungeon, tied to a chair. I felt so dizzy and like I had been sleeping for a week. When my vision stopped blurring, I noticed the sorceress sitting on the bed right in front of me.

“She basically spoke nonsense about how I was a boy too great to be under the influence of someone as horrible as my father.” Phil said, his voice wavering a bit. He sounded a bit unconvincing if Dan was being honest but maybe it was just his imagination.

“I yelled at her every day to let me out but she told me I wasn’t ready yet. Ready for what, I had no idea but apparently I was unprepared for it.” Phil said, “I spent most of my days reading books of all kinds. Books about animals, plants, stars, medicine, you name it, I read it. But my favorite, by far, were love stories. I used to dream that one day when I got out, I would find the love of my life.

“Then, one day I yelled at the sorceress, Scarlett was her name, that she was keeping me from my soulmate. She laughed in my face, like you did, about the idea of soulmates but, to spite me, she put a magical lock on the door and put a spell on it so that my soulmate was the only person who could ever let me out. I waited and waited in hopes of the belief that my soulmate would save me. Then, flash to ten years later and that’s where you come in!”

“Wow.” Dan said, trying to process all that information, “I could never imagine waiting 10 years for someone I didn’t even know.”

  
“Well, I know you now and that’s all that matters!” Phil said, smiling.

They sat and talked for a little while longer, sharing stories from their childhood and amusing anecdotes. He learned that Phil wants to own a dog one day and apparently is a magnet for crazy people. He listened to Phil’s crazy stories and genuinely laughed for the first time in what felt like forever. They only stopped the conversation when Dan pointed out that they should probably leave because they had a lot of walking to do and wanted to get somewhere better to set up camp before it got dark out. They continued walking and Dan almost stopped when he felt Phil’s hand slip into his, entangling their fingers.

“I’m sorry!” Phil said, when he noticed Dan stopped walking, “I just thought this was one of those small gestures we could do that I was talking about! Is this okay?”

Dan wanted so badly to say no but the warmth of Phil’s hands, combined with Phil’s thumb absentmindedly rubbing his hand made it too hard for Dan to say no. So instead he just smiled and said, “Yes, Phil. It’s okay.” So, they continued their journey, walking hand in hand.

************************

The amount of walking they got done before the sun started to go down actually surprised Dan. They walked through the rest of the bandit forest and walked through what Dan called the never ending forest, but this time it didn’t feel so endless. Apparently, walking hand in hand with someone who made you laugh and smile made the time fly by. They had made it to the long string of villages when the sun was barely visible anymore. The village they were currently walking through was very tiny but also very cute. It had various types of small huts and farmland, and it looked like the type of place Dan imagined himself living when he pictured his future.

They walked through the village, in hopes that there would be an Inn to sleep for the night. The Rising Sun was near another exit of the forest, it wasn’t far from where they were but it was closer to Morid and Dan worried that Vexx would come looking for Dan there. He had to get Phil home safely. Dan was so deep in thought that he didn’t hear Phil at yell him to watch where he was walking. He walked straight into a blonde women and they both fell down.

“I’m so sorry!” Dan said, scrambling off the ground to help her up. He grabbed her hand, pulled her up and when she stood up, he noticed it was Louise from the Rising Sun.

“Watch where you’re go- oh hey, you’re the sad guy from the tavern! Dan right?” Louise said.

“Yup, that’s me.” Dan said, sheepishly. “Sorry about knocking you over. Do you live here?”

“Yes I do!” Louise said, pointing at the small house behind them. “Born and raised!”

“That’s so crazy I ran into you. Do you know of any other Inns in the area where me and my friend can sleep for the night?” Dan asked.

Louise looked at Phil and then down in the space between them, smiling. Dan was confused at her sudden amusement and looked down to see him and Phil’s hands were intertwined again. Dan didn’t even notice that when he stood back up, Phil laced their fingers together. Dan quickly let go and laughed awkwardly as Louise continued to smile at them.

“Who’s your friend, Dan?” Louise asked, with a knowing smirk on her face.

Dan blushed and said, “This is my _friend_ , Phil. We were both traveling in the same direction and figured why not travel together! He wants to visit the castle in the city so we’re going there together.” Dan figured he should probably keep the whole kidnapped prince and soulmate thing on the down-low. He then, internally panicked when he realized Louise probably recognized Phil and made the connection between him and the royal Lester Family.

Dan sighed in relief when Louise said, “Nice to meet you, Phil!” If news that Phil returned got out to a large group of people they would bring way too much attention to themselves. Dan selfishly wanted it to be just Phil and him until they got to the Lester castle.

“Louise, you never did tell me if you knew of another Inn or not?” Dan asked.

“An Inn? Oh nonsense! I can’t let two sweet boys like you walk in the dark to an Inn! The closest one is two villages over.” Louise said, “Don’t be silly you can sleep in my house for the night!”

“Oh, Louise we can’t ask that of you.” Dan said.

“It’s no problem at all!” Louise said, “Only one problem… I only have one spare bed.”

“Me and Dan don’t mind sharing!” Phil said, smiling as he looked back and forth from Dan to Louise.

“Of course you don’t” Louise said, giving them that knowing smile again. Dan just facepalmed himself as they followed Louise into the house

***********************

When Louise showed them the spare room and gave them some blankets before bidding them goodnight, Dan just stared at how tiny the bed was.

“I’ll take the floor, you can have the bed.” Dan said, laying some blankets on the floor.

“What? No!” Phil said, “Dan we need to share the bed! That’s what people who are in love do!”

“Phil, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but WE’RE NOT IN LOVE” Dan said, surprising himself with how angry it came out. The sad look on Phil’s face made Dan’s heart sink. He didn’t mean to yell at Phil he was just so tired and cranky from walking all day.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Phil. I didn’t mean to snap at you I’m just tired.” Dan said.

“It’s okay.” Phil said, solemnly.

“Listen, we’re both freakishly tall and you know we won’t get a good night's sleep sharing that bed. You’re the prince, just take the bed.” Dan said, handing the blankets to Phil.

“You’re right.” Phil said, as he stripped himself of his shirt, before unmaking the bed.

Dan tried really hard not to look but when he did, he was met with perfectly unblemished and extremely pale skin matched with perfectly curved muscles. He quickly looked away when Phil was sitting in bed and he quickly stripped himself of his own shirt before settling into his makeshift floor bed.

***************

To say it was cold that night was understatement. It was really frickin cold in this room and Dan shivered under the blankets. He hoped he didn’t wake up Phil with the sound of his teeth chattering.

“Dan, stop being silly.” Phil said, startling Dan, “This bed is perfectly warm just get up here before you freeze to death!”

Dan sighed in defeat and got up because he knew Phil was right. He slowly lifted the covers and sunk into the bed next to Phil. He laid his head down to the pillow, adjusting his position with his eyes closed. When he opened them, he realized just how close their faces were. Phil stared into his eyes, down at his lips then back up at his eyes.

“Dan?” Phil said, keeping direct eye contact.

“Yes?” Dan asked absently, as he currently felt like he was in a trance from looking into the blue of Phil’s eyes.

Phil leaned closer, looking like he was contemplating his next move. He just stared at Dan’s lips for a little before finally looking back up at his eyes and said, “I’m happy you’re my soulmate.”

Dan could feel himself about to do something stupid and stopped himself before saying, “So am I.”

They smiled at each other before Dan turned around, his back facing Phil and said, “Goodnight, Phil.”

“Night, Dan.” Phil said, “I hope you have happy dreams.”

Dan closed his eyes and thought about everything that happened that day. The dragon encounter, breaking the spell, finding Phil, Phil saving him, Dan crying as Phil held him, holding hands and now sharing a bed. Had that all really happened in one day?

Dan smiled to himself and thought _I’m never gonna have a bad dream again._

****************

Dan stirred in his sleep when he felt the sun shining through the window from behind his eyelids. He shifted in the bed and realized he had his arms around something, the same something his head was resting on. Was it a pillow?

When Dan opened his eyes he realized he was lying on Phil’s bare chest, with his arm cradled against Phil’s side and Phil’s armed draped over his hip. _Shit._ He forgot he crawled into the bed with Phil in the middle of the night. He tried to slowly move away from Phil so he didn’t wake him up and he was doing so well until he realized his arm was basically trapped under Phil’s body. He tried to quickly and effectively pull his arm out from under Phil but in doing so, ended up falling out of the bed and onto the floor with a loud thump.

“Oh my god! Dan!” he heard Phil say as he looked over the edge of the bed, down at Dan. “Are you okay??”

“Um. I think I permanently damaged my spine but yep I’m good.” Dan said, slowly sitting up.

Before he could even get up, Phil jumped off the bed and had his hands all over Dan instantly. He could tell Phil was running his hands through Dan’s hair feeling for any bumps and he tried to push Phil’s hands off him but Phil wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“Are you hurt? Did you hit your head?” Phil said, hands still searching for signs of injury.

“Phil! I’m fine!” Dan said, grabbing Phil’s wrists to stop him. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”

They sat there, Phil practically in Dan’s lap, Dan holding Phil’s wrists, their faces merely inches apart. They stared at each other, saying nothing for a while. Phil slowly started leaning closer and closer, and Dan’s heart was beating so fast, he worried it might fall out. Phil continued to shorten the distance between them, constantly staring back and forth from Dan’s eyes and lips. _Oh my god Phil is going to kiss me_ , Dan thought to himself. He was too shocked to move so he just closes his eyes, the anticipation of the kiss becoming all too much for Dan to handle.

“Breakfast time!”

Dan and Phil jumped apart, startled by the sudden appearance of Louise by the door.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! I should have knocked!” Louise said, “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything.” Even though Louise sounded sorry, she definitely didn’t look it. She just gave them the same knowing look she gave them the night before when she noticed them holding hands.

It was then that Dan looked between him and Phil and noticed just exactly what Louise walked into. Him and Phil were both still shirtless, sitting practically on top of each other, and both their hair a mess from sleep. Any person with eyes would think the same thing Louise did if they walked in right now.

“No, you weren’t interrupting anything.” Dan said, standing up to find his shirt. “We were just… talking.” Dan mentally slapped himself for how unconvincing he sounded.

“Well, whenever you’re done, “talking”, breakfast is ready for you two.” Louise said, smirking before closing the door.

“I don’t think she thinks we were talking, Da-”

“I know what she thought!” Dan said loudly, interrupting Phil. Phil giggled and got up to find his shirt as well.

After they got dressed, they walked out into the main room of Louise’s house and ate breakfast with her. They talked for a little bit and Louise packed them some food for their trip. Dan put the wrapped up food in his bag, right next to the Dragon Eye box. Dan almost forgot that this whole journey started with trying to find this jewel. The thought gave him an anxious feeling in the pit of his stomach because he knew Vexx was probably wondering where the hell he was. Vexx was most likely on his way to find Dan already and the thought made Dan shiver.

“Dan, are you okay?” Phil asked, gently rubbing Dan’s arm.

“What? Oh yeah, sorry.” Dan said a bit distantly, Phil snapping him out of his thoughts. “Just got lost in my thoughts.”

They hugged Louise goodbye and headed out the door to continue their journey.

******************************

The next three days were very uneventful in terms of walking but _very_ eventful in terms of Dan and Phil’s relationship.

They continued to do little things to make their feelings for each other “blossom”, as Phil explained it. They held hands everywhere they walked, and only stopped when they were near large groups of people. Every time they stopped for a break, they continued to share things about themselves and over time, the lines of what was platonic and was romantic became blurred. Both times when they set up camp for the night, they slept curled up together, basically spooning the whole night. Dan’s feelings for Phil became very confusing, to say the least.

Just a few days ago he thought Phil was some crazy guy who thought they were soulmates but now, Phil was someone he couldn’t imagine not having in his life. He needed Phil’s stupid jokes and puns, dumb animal facts, positive attitude even when things we’re extremely shitty and cute smile where Phil’s tongue would stick out. He loved Phil as a friend but as they continued to hold hands, run their fingers through each other’s hair when they cuddle up for the night, and stare at each other for what was way too long to be a platonic glance, Dan couldn’t help but feel something more than friendship.

He felt his heart race every Phil smiled at him, his cheeks would heat up when Phil complimented him, he smiled like an idiot and laughed with all his heart every time him and Phil talked, and Dan had never felt anything like this before. Maybe Phil was his soulmate because he felt himself falling for Phil and falling _fast._ He didn’t know what to do with that because he didn’t know _how_ to be in love. He had never been with anyone in his life and didn’t know what you were supposed to do when you loved someone.

On top of all that, he didn’t even know if Phil felt the same way about him. Yes, Phil was the one who initiated the romantic gestures and insisted that they were soulmates but that was just what Phil genuinely believed. Dan had no idea if Phil actually developed feelings for him. The things they did that people in love do definitely worked for Dan, but he didn’t know if they actually worked for Phil. He didn’t want to push Phil, so he decided he should wait to see if Phil told him how he felt.

And if that wasn’t enough, he still felt shitty knowing Phil didn’t really know what the bad things Dan did, or the fact that he was a feared assassin. He wanted to tell Phil, he really did but he just couldn’t. He couldn’t bare to see the look on Phil’s face when he found out he murdered people. He knew keeping secrets was going to come back to bite him in the ass but he would deal with that when it happened. All he could do was just hope, that for now, Phil won’t ever find out who he really is.

Dan tried to ignore the thoughts that were eating away at him as he rested his head on Phil’s chest, listening to his heart beat. It was the third night and that meant they only had one more day until they got to the Lester castle. They set up camp in a secluded meadow and they were currently cuddling, while staring at the beautiful view of the stars above them.

“One thing I missed the most about not being able to be out in the real world was the stars.” Phil said, as he ran his fingers through Dan’s hair, playing with his fringe. “They.re so beautiful, you can’t help but smile in amazement when you look at them!”

“Looking at stars always made me sad.” Dan said.

“Why is that?” Phil asked.

“When Vexx made me… do those bad things… it was always at night. Seeing the stars meant I was about to hurt someone.” Dan said, his mind flooding with memories of too many nights spent looking up at the stars, clothes stained with blood, “Plus, the stars always made me feel so small and insignificant. The universe is so big and we’re so tiny and so alone in this world. I never had anybody in my life to make me feel any different.”

“What about now?” Phil asked, looking sad.

Dan looked up at Phil and smiled. “I don’t feel alone anymore.” Dan said. They laid there, holding each other and smiling like idiots until they heard a voice from someone in the dark say, “Awww, isn’t this sweet?”

All of a sudden the voice stepped out and when the man’s face became illuminated by the fire, Dan noticed that it was Vexx. He jumped up, holding his sword up in defense. He grabbed Phil, pulling him up from where he was lying on the ground and pushed him behind him, protecting him from Vexx. All of a sudden, two of Vexx’s men made themselves visible.

“Look at this, boys. I think our little Danny has fallen in love.” Vexx said, laughing with his two men.

“How… how did you find me.” Dan said.

“Well, considering the mission was taking way too long I figured you were either dead or you ran away. Either way, I had to see for myself so I walked the path I figured you would take and met some very nice people at a little tavern. The Rising Sun, I think it was called.” Vexx said, slowly walking closer to Dan, “After a little persuasion they talked and blah blah blah I found you here.” Dan shuddered at the thought of what Vexx did to Chris, PJ and Louise in order to make them talk. Vexx was the master of persuasion.

“Well, you’re right about one thing Vexx, I was running away.’ Dan said, his voice shaking. “And I will spend every day of the rest of my life trying to run away from you.”

“Oh Dan, stop being so dramatic. Just cut the crap and tell me where the jewel is.” Vexx said.

“I don’t have it.” Dan said, trying to sound convincing.

“Don’t lie to me, boy.” Vexx said, angrily.

“I. don’t. have. It.” Dan said, this time with more authority, “When I got to the abandoned castle, I was a little too preoccupied with not being roasted alive by the fire breathing dragon protecting it. I ran out before I could find it.”

“Well, you found something else, though. Didn’t you?” Vexx said, looking over Dan’s shoulder at Phil, “Who is this?” Vexx walked to step closer to Phil, but Dan held out his sword and said, “Don’t you dare touch him.”

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do.” Vexx said, snapping his fingers. It was then that Vexx’s two men grabbed Dan by both arms and pulled him back. Dan tried to pull his arms free but the men had a strong grip on Dan, holding him back. Dan gritted his teeth as he saw Vexx walk right up to Phil.

“So, who are you?” Vexx said, getting up in Phil’s face.

“I’m… I’m Phil.” Phil stuttered, looking terrified. Vexx studied Phil, looking him up and Dan and Dan’s heart almost stopped when he noticed the look of realization on Vexx’s face.

“Phil? Oh my god, you’re not- are you Prince Philip Lester?” Vexx said, practically laughing. Phil’s silence was enough of an answer for Vexx.

“Well, isn’t this precious. Not only has Dan found the lost Prince of Cavalon, he’s fallen in love with him.” Vexx said, this time properly laughing. “Oh this is just too good.” Vexx then grabbed onto Phil’s chin and pulled Phil’s face down until he was looking right at him.

“You’ve been lost for a while, haven’t you?” Vexx asked, with a smirk, “I bet your father would pay a lot of money to know you were alive. You could make me rich.”

“Don’t you dare fucking touch him!” Dan screamed, resisting and struggling against the hold the two men had on him, “I will fucking kill you, I swear to God.”

Vexx’s head snapped to look at Dan. If looks could kill, Dan would have dropped dead by now. Vexx practically ran up to Dan and violently grabbed his face, making Dan look right at him. “I’m sick of your shit, Dan. I think it’s finally time you learned some respect.”

Vexx let go of Dan’s face and punched him right in the gut. It knocked the breath out of Dan and he would have fallen down if it wasn’t for Vexx’s men holding him up.

“Dan!!” Phil screamed, running up to them.

Vexx held out his hand behind him and didn’t even look back as he blasted Phil back with magic, causing Phil to land on his back.

Dan opened his mouth to scream but Vexx punched him in the face before he could say anything. Vexx let Dan have it, and continued to beat up Dan. Dan felt blood dripping into his mouth and he was pretty sure his nose was broken. His ribs burned from how hard they were hit and Dan couldn’t take anymore.

Just as Vexx lifted his hand to punch Dan again, Vexx suddenly dropped to the ground, unconscious. Vexx’s men dropped instantly after him and Dan had no idea what the hell was going on until he looked over at Phil. When he looked over, he saw Phil, holding his hand out as he heavily breathed in and out.

“Phil.” Dan said, eyes wide in shock, “You have magic?”

Phil suddenly fell to his knees and Dan ran up to him as quickly as he could, wincing in pain.

“Phil.” Dan said, grabbing onto Phil, who was now crying hysterically and shaking, “Phil! Talk to me.”

“I’m.. I’m so sorry, Dan.” Phil said, looking at Dan with so much sadness that it made Dan want to cry. “I wanted.. To tell you.. But I knew how much you hated magic.” Phil stuttered, the words coming out choppy from how hard he was crying. He buried his face in Dan’s chest.

When he looked up, tears were streaming down his face and he said, “Do you hate me?” Dan’s heart shattered in that very moment. The broken look on Phil’s face, tears staining Dan’s shirt, was enough to make Dan cry himself.

“Oh, Phil.” Dan said, cupping Phil’s cheek, “I could never hate you.”

Phil smiled at the familiar words that he said to Dan just a few days before. They sat there, holding each other and stared into each other’s eyes.

In that moment, Dan didn’t care about anything else. He didn’t care that Phil didn’t know about his past, he didn’t care that Vexx was probably going to kill him whenever he woke up, he didn’t care that believing in soulmates was silly, and he didn’t care that Phil had magic. All he cared about Phil. He stopped thinking and leaned in and closed the distance between him and Phil’s lips.

He felt Phil’s lips against his, slowly starting to move against Dan’s. Phil’s lips were soft and tasted sweet. They moved and fit perfectly against Dan’s. It was a kiss full of urgency, sharing unspoken words between them. It was an acceptance of Phil’s magic and a reveal of both Dan and Phil’s feelings for each other.

When they broke apart, they both smiled like idiots at each other. They looked around at the unconscious bodies around them and stared at each other, as if asking _What do we do now?_

“We should probably get out of here before they wake u- OW” Dan held his side and winced in pain, falling back to the ground before he could even get up.

Phil rested his hand on Dan’s forehead and before he knew it, all the pain went away. Dan looked up at Phil, amazed. _Did Phil just heal me?_

Phil quickly turned away to pour his water skin on the fire to put it out. Dan grabbed his bag and then slipped his hand into Phil’s. They ran off, hand in hand, into night towards the city and tried to get as far away from Vexx and his men as possible. With Phil’s magic, Dan’s fighting skills and their love holding them together, they knew they were unstoppable.


End file.
